MODESITT, L(eland) E(xton Jr)

(1943-)

   US writer who began publishing sf with "The Great American Economy" for ASF in 1973, the first of two Council of Economic Advisors tales. His first novel The Fires of Paratime (1982), is an eccentric but ambitious TIME-TRAVEL tale, in which emissaries/guardians from the planet Query engage in complex and metaphysical manipulations of reality. TheHammer of Darkness (1985), also sf, was followed by two series. The Forever Hero novels - Dawn for a Distant Earth (1987), Silent Warrior (1987) and In Endless Twilight (1988) - treat the profound ecological desecration of Earth through a sequence of SPACE OPERAS whose protagonist, an immortal warrior called MacGregor Gerswin, saves the planet as part of a scheme of sweeping galactic exploits. The Ecolitan Trilogy - The Ecologic Envoy (1986), The Ecolitan Operation (1989) and The EcologicSecession (1990) - deals with similar themes, though ultimate success is here achieved as part of a pattern of political intrigues and battles. The Reclucefantasy sequence comprisesThe Magic of Recluce (1991), The Towersof the Sunset (1992) and The Magic Engineer (1994).The Green Progression (1992) with Bruce Scott Levinson is a nongenre novel on ecological issues.Of Tangible Ghosts (1994) is an ALTERNATE WORLD sf tale.

   JC

   Other works: Timediver's Dawn (1992) and The Timegod (1993).